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The Moombootleg: An Unofficial History of Moombahton, Part 2

Posted on July 12, 2011 | 1 comment

Answering the question “what is moombahton?” couldn’t possibly be answered in one post. Today, I’ll move on from the OGs (mostly), recalling a year that saw moombahton bounce across the world.

Jon Kwest, “Run Di Track”

While moombahton is a global movement and not a regional one, it found a special place with the club music scene (not surprising, considering Dave Nada’s roots). Philly by way of Baltimore DJ Jon Kwest is a perfect example of this, contributing to both Bmore Original and Moombah Original records. “Run Di Track” has the car siren synths of Dutch house and a beat that doesn’t give up.

Pier Bucci & Samim, “Hay Consuelo (Obeyah edit)”

Moombahton allows a producer to infuse it with his own style. DC’s Obeyah takes a turntablist mentality to the deep house of “Hay Consuelo,” proving that every song in the set doesn’t have to be a banger to get crowds moving. With the finesse of a house DJ, Obeyah keeps the groove going like none other.

DJ Melo, “Song For My Children (radio edit)”

Melo was the perfect candidate for the third volume of TGRI’s Culipandeo mixtape series (following A-Mac and Heartbreak). With a background of spinning reggaeton, house and Latin music, the Phoenix DJ has the perfect pedigree for moombahton, and the smooth, soulful vibe of this very personal song shines through every time.

Vybz Kartel, “Yuh Love (Boyfriend remix)”

For the next Culipandeo, Marcus reached out to a DJ that spoke to the global nature of the moombahton movement. “Tropical bass” and “Lithuania” are unlikely partners, but Boyfriend (Vytis Gruzdys) makes it work. His edit of Vybz Kartel’s dancehall hit “Yuh Love” actually speeds up the original to the swift 108 BPM where moombahton resides. From Jamaica to Lithuania and back to the States: a very moombahton story.

Alex Clare, “Too Close (Nadastrom remix)”

Leave it to Nadastrom to best all their peers in the moombahton remix game. While their take on Alex Clare’s “Up All Night” is stuck in record company purgatory, “Too Close” remains a peak hour killer with its soulful build and half-time breakdown. Says Alex Clare: “I’m honoured to be associated with moombahton; it’s genuine, no pretence party music. There are not many other genres that can still claim that.”

Long Jawns & Billy the Gent, “Vibrate 2.0”

Just a year ago, Billy the Gent was killing ‘em with wobbles, and now he’s at the center of the moombahton scene, thanks to a firm grip on the zeitgeist and an easygoing, collaborative attitude. With longtime collaborator Long Jawns, the Gent crafted “Vibrate” out of the Petey Pablo track of the same name. “Vibrate” destroys dance floors.

Cam Jus, “Metro Center (Step Back)”

Along with running the spiritual successor to Dave Nada’s Moombahton Mondays (the monthly Tropixxx party) with Billy the Gent, Cam is a producer and DJ bar none. While “Even the Gringoes,” “The Stabs” or “Ease the Pain” would fit in here, this is the quintessential DC moombahton track, from one of DC’s fastest rising stars.

JWLS, “6 foot 7 foot (J-trick remix)”

This track is a bank shot, encapsulating the collaborative culture that moombahton embodies. Take a club favorite Lil’ Wayne track, amp it into a Dutch house banger (courtesy Miami moombahnista JWLS) and then screw it down into moombahton (as Australian wunderkind J-Trick did). Seeing producers across the world work on tracks like this is part of the moombahton mystique.

Alvin Risk & Tittsworth, “Pendejas”

“Pendejas” had floated around the moombahton and DJ scenes for a while before its release Plant Music. Everyone knew it would be major – but the masses had to wait. With an insane video shot at Tropixxx – including a Titts “stage” dive – “Pendejas” is already a moombahton classic.

“What is moombahton?” As these producers and many more have proven, the answer is always changing. It’s been a hell of a ride, and it’s only beginning.

Download: The Moombootleg

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The Moombootleg: An Unofficial History of Moombahton, Part 1

Posted on July 11, 2011 | 3 comments

Even though it seems ubiquitous, devotees of moombahton must remember that their cherished genre is still a mystery to the music world at large. For those of us who have been following the ascendant sound, it’s easy to forget that most people can’t answer the question, “what is moombahton?”

Describing it as a Dutch house and reggaeton hybrid certainly doesn’t do the trick – that’s just jargon. You could try retelling the genre’s “origin story,” as it were, with Dave Nada slowing down a record into something more palatable for his cousin’s skip party, but that’s a setting, not a sound. Play the Nada-compiled Blow Your Head 2, and you get a specific vision of moombahton, albeit through Mad Decent’s rose-colored glasses. None of these give you a complete picture of a genre that has undergone so much in just over a year.

For those reasons and more, I’ve compiled The Moombootleg: 19 tracks over 80 minutes that attempts to present the story of moombahton for beginners. Moombahnistas might get a bit of nostalgia from these tracks, as I did when assembling it, but the real audience is your co-worker, your siblings, or even your parents, so they can finally understand moombahton. You can even fit it on a CD (remember those?) and let it blow the car speakers out as you educate your neighborhood.

Postcultural and TGRIOnline present… The Moombootleg: An Unofficial History of Moombahton

Dave Nada, “Moombahton”

The track that started it all. Its birth a 21st century accident: “Moombah” by Silvio Ecomo & Chuckie, remixed by Afrojack, made new by Dave Nada. The word “moombahton” had been floating around social networks since Nada played his new tunes at Winter Olympics afterparties, but the public didn’t hear it until he took over the decks at a pair of late night gigs, first at the Rock and Roll Hotel, and then post-KIDS at DC9. I was at the latter, and the visceral experience will stay with me forever.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Heads Will Roll (A-Mac Moombahton Edit)”

One of the first producers to grab Dave’s edits and make some moombahton was Calgary DJ A-Mac. The original “Heads Will Roll” was already a hit, and A-Trak’s electro edit made it palatable for the dance floor. A-Mac’s edit of the latter was one of the first of many moombahton edits and remixes to spread like wildfire. I interviewed A-Mac; he would go on to put together the first Culipandeo mixtape for TGRIOnline.

Steve Starks, “Lydia (Nadastrom’s Moombahton Remix)”

Back in DC, Nouveau Riche party-starters Steve Starks and Nacey were prepping their second EP, and first for T&A Records, Time Run Out. Starks’ Latin house jam “Lydia” is built around a sample of the father of reggaeton, El General. With that lineage, it begged for a moombahton remix. Nadastrom obliged with this bonus track.

Munchi, “Metele Bellaco”

Munchi’s story dovetails nicely with that of moombahton. The self-described “kid with big hair that loves to make all kinds of music” had already released promo EPs in various styles – Baltimore club, baile funk and even dubstep – but it wasn’t until his moombahton promo that his name ricocheted through the electronic music community. “Metele Bellaco” is moombahton at its finest: the “Planet Rock” riff, the Yaviah rap, and the Dutch house drums could only come from a Dominican living in Rotterdam. This is how a global movement is built.

Dave Nada, “Punk Rock Latino (Moombahton edit)”

T&A continued its moombahton dominance, including this gem off the EP of the same name. While “La Gata” and “KRS Moombahton” are arguably more essential to the sound, this is practically Nada’s theme song, biography and motto all in one.

Heartbreak & Munchi, “Boneknuckles (Moombahton Remix)”

At TGRIOnline, Marcus Dowling and I had faithfully been covering every development in the genre, so when we received an email from Munchi it felt like Christmas. Munchi described the origin of each track on this collaborative EP with Charlotte producer David Heartbreak, in a verbose style that he would repeat in each successive announcement email. The Munbreakton EP brought hip-hop, R&B, baile funk, and bubbling influences to the forefront. Together or separate, there would be no moombahton without Heartbreak and Munchi.

Drop The Lime x East Flatbush Project, “Tried by Sex Sax (Doc Adam Moombahton Edit)”

For underground club-goers, Drop the Lime’s “Sex Sax” was the song of the summer in 2010. Portland’s Doc Adam mashed it up with a throwback to ‘96, East Flatbush Project’s “Tried by Twelve.” The remix refreshed DTL’s bass jam for moombahton fans.

Munchi, “Pun Aint Dead”

Following up where Munbreakton left off was the Fuck H & M promo. Only Munchi could mix salsa great Héctor Lavoe with rapper Big Pun and pull it off. The first of many anthemic moombahton bangers, the producer summed it up best: “Who the fuck invited Pun? Yeah I did, fuck you.”

Heartbreak, “Shy Day” and “King Kong”

Like Munchi, Heartbreak is an extremely prolific producer with a strong grasp on moombahton and its possibilities. That’s why TGRIOnline booked him to play with DJs Cam Jus and Obeyah. Unfortunately, the night was a bust, but it did get three rising producers in the same room. Heartbreak’s third Moombahma EP (M3) dropped that November, giving a name to moombahton’s first subgenres: the moombahsoul of “Shy Day” and the moombahcore of “King Kong.” Whether sampling Sade or Denzel, Heartbreak is a pro. Yet even he couldn’t have predicted the staying power of “King Kong:” “I do not expect people to dance to this shit, or even play it in the club, but fuck it, every song has its place… and [its] is the gutter.”

Check back tomorrow for the second installment of this unofficial history of moombahton, as the movement goes global while keeping DC at the forefront.

Download: The Moombootleg

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Serious Saturdays: Y'all Ain't Yeti for Nadastrom (via Mishka)

Posted on July 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

This should go without saying: don’t sleep on the Keep Watch Mix Series. Need proof? Crank up the fourth edition (from way back in 2008), which featured LA by way of DC-duo Nadastrom.

Nadastrom is comprised of DJ/producers-extraordinaire Dave Nada (né Villegas) and Matt Nordstrom. Established in 2007, Nadastrom have toured the world, unleashed their trademark brand of club-infused tech house on crowds everywhere, and found a home on Switch’s forward-thinking label Dubsided. It’s been a busy few years.

Nadastrom is an example of the whole being greater than the parts. Both Nada and Nordstrom were established talents when they came together: Nada as a resident of quintessential Baltimore party Taxlo and Nordstrom as a studio engineer for house music legends Deep Dish. But it was only together, when they combined the energy of Baltimore club and the pulsing vibe of deep house (along with precise studio programming), that they could reach superstar status in the global underground dance scene.

From the first bass blast of their debut Pussy EP, its been clear that Nadastrom is masterful at crafting soulful, big room bangers. The Soul II Soul-sampling title track and Blaqstarr-driven electroclub of “Tween Me + U” are still vital nearly three years after their release: guaranteed dance floor destroyers that should come pre-loaded on Serato boxes. The same can be said about “Save Us” on 2009’s The Saved EP: the shimmering breakdowns are but momentary respites from the hard-charging, soul-clapping spiritual.

Ever since they flipped Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” into a screwed-down grindfest, Nadastrom has proven to be expert remixers as well, taking on everyone from DC homeboy Tittsworth to Laidback Luke and Diplo. Keying in on the most essential element of a song, Nadastrom practically renders the originals obsolete. Last year, Nadastrom tweaked bass bangers from Udachi (“P-Funk Skank”) and AC Slater (“Take You”), slicing out most of the wobble but keeping all the intensity. Their most surprising remix, however, was a dubstep take on “Crush” by UK hip-pop act Fugative.

While their club and house credentials are impeccable, you can’t mention Nadastrom these days without bringing up moombahton. Nada may have (unintentionally) created it at his cousin’s skip party, but they’ve fostered the growth of the heatseeking genre together. Nadastrom is responsible for some — if not most — of the finest moombahton edits in existence; their Rum & Coke EP is required listening.

Since releasing the first official moombahton remix (of Steve Starks’ “Lydia”) they’ve brought songs by Florence and the Machine, Temper Trap, Win Win, and The Weeknd to the magical land of 108 BPM. Pairing up with UK singer-songwriter Alex Clare has resulted in two instant classics: “Too Close” and the as of yet unreleased “Up All Night.”

Moombahton may be getting them attention, but Nadastrom haven’t forgotten what got them where they are now. The duo dropped several singles earlier this year that hark back to tracks like “Pussy.” Ominous rumblers “Theo” and “M.U.H.” play on the dark side of house, yet the highlight of their new material is “All Night.” The track is built on a vocal riff from one of the most sampled songs ever, the James Brown-produced, Lyn Collins jam “Think (About It)” (for non-crate diggers, that’s where that classic “woo! yeah!” break comes from).

Nadastrom’s mascot / logo / spirit animal is the Yeti, specifically the one from the hilariously over-the-top SkyMall catalog. What started as an inside joke has actually come to describe the duo: this dark, mysterious beast who haunts our collective consciousness. If you’ve ever heard a Nadastrom track in a DJ set (you probably have) or have been lucky enough to see them live, you understand the Yeti. From the most powerful tech house to the smoothest moombahton, Nadastrom is out there.

If you’re in DC, just turn up the bass: the Nadastrom residency returns tomorrow July 10th to U Street Music Hall with guests Munchi and Jillionaire.

Originally posted on the Mishka Bloglin.

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Notes from the Moombahton Movement

Posted on March 22, 2011 | 5 comments

One year ago, I wrote my first piece about moombahton, profiling OG moombahnista DJ A-Mac. This month has seen so many developments that I think it’s helpful to catalog them all in one post. So here goes:

Moombahton Massive III

To mark the the appropriately massive Megaton event at SXSW, the third installment in the Moombahton Massive EP series was released. Sol Selecta Sabo provides two offerings, including a take on the oft-sampled “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band (“Patchy Moombahton”). Always with an ear for crossovers, A-Mac flips “Drop” by Timbaland and Magoo. Pickster One, Melo, and Apt One also contribute, but leave it to the originators for the finest track. Nadastrom stretches the Axwell & Dirty South remix of the Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition” into an uplifting seven-minute epic.

Download Moombahton Massive EP III




Dillon Francis – Westside!

Last week, Mad Decent dropped the highly-anticipated Westside! EP from Dillon Francis. It doesn’t disappoint: Francis’ crowd-pleasing electro-house style transitions nicely into block rocking moombahton beats. The title track is a moombahcore banger that references one of the genre’s earliest songs, Nada’s “Riverside.” Maluca on a moombahton track is a no-brainer, and “Que Que” explores relatively new (and necessary) territory: producers using original vocals on their tracks. Dutch-flavored car siren synths power “Brazzer’s Theme,” which – like most tracks Munchi gets his hands on – is overshadowed by the remix.


“Moombahton: Born in D.C., bred worldwide”

By night, Sami Y is a DC DJ and party promoter of events, either in warehouses or his own house. By day, he works at NPR, where he continues to trumpet moombahton’s growth on the public airwaves.

“After moombahton comes moombriton”

Neil Queen of Pop Culture Care Package published an excellent piece about a new hotbed of moombahton: the UK (where else?). The piece is extensive and features an interview and exclusives from rising producer Smutlee.

Mixes from the Capitol

DC’s own Cam Jus and Billy the Gent have been ably carrying the Moombahton Monday torch with their Tropixxx parties at Velvet Lounge (next up: April 3). The duo also have a slot on the Moombahton Massive / Munchi benefit at U Hall in April. These are all can’t miss events, but in the meantime, check out Cam’s mix for trendsetting DC brand Black Collection.

Not to be outdone, Obeyah (who is also playing the Munchi benefit), just dropped a “thrashhall” mix. It’s full of exclusives, including unreleased tracks by Steve Starks, Tittsworth, and Alvin Risk, and it hits all parts of the tropical bass explosion.

Bonus: Head over to my old home, True Genius Requires Insanity, for an exclusive mix from Lithuanian producer Boyfriend. It’s a tribute to just how global this movement is.

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